Debate contribution: Cross-border Education
Debate contribution by Mr Danny Baker on .
- MLA
- Mr Danny Baker
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 2 March 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Cross-border Education
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5433428
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
You will all be glad to hear that I will not take 10 minutes. It has been a good debate. Most people agreed that we need to remove barriers and make opportunities seamless, but work is very much needed. I could talk all day and not convince the TUV of the benefits of removing barriers between North and South. As someone who sits on the Education Committee and who talks regularly to young people through youth clubs, I can say that we are talking about the barriers that exist right now. We need to remove them. A real big one that is coming down the line could be the changes that the Minister of Education wants to bring in through TransformED. Proposals are being made at a fast pace, drowning school leaders with consultation after consultation; there is no question about that. It is very clear from one of those consultations that our young people, teachers and parents do not support the removal of AS levels. I would go as far as saying that we should not remove coursework either. It is not just about them getting the qualification; it is a barrier to young people getting on that pathway. They might be put off from doing A levels, because there is far more pressure when there are just one or two exams at the end of two years. Some of our young people do not test well and do not like that, so that is not fair. I know that only one Minister can respond to the debate, but this was an opportunity to talk about the issue, and I wish that the Education Minister was here. We need to talk this through and work together on it, because it is going to create more barriers: that has been flagged by school leaders, parents and students. Thank you all for participating in the debate. We probably have enough to get this over the line. We will get out of here a wee bit earlier.
342 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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